


My Old Man

by SporadicUpdater



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Death, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Growing Old, Growing Up, Song Lyrics, Song fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-06 01:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11025948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SporadicUpdater/pseuds/SporadicUpdater
Summary: Jim's contemplations of fatherhood and the lessons you teach your kid.





	My Old Man

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own star trek or My Old Man
> 
> My Old Man belongs to Zac Brown

_He was a giant_  
_When I was just a kid_  
_I was always trying_  
_To do everything he did_  
_I can still remember every lesson he taught me_  
_Growing up learning how to be like my old man_

You’d think that George Kirk’s influence over Jim’s life would have ended with his death. You’d be wrong. For years, George Kirk was the why and what of Jim’s life.

Why do you act the way you do? Because it’s the way I thought he’d want me to act.

What do you want to do with your life? I want to make him proud of me.

You’d think George Kirk being dead would mean he’d never taught Jim a damn thing. You’d be wrong. George Kirk taught Jim what love was. Sacrifice. George Kirk taught Jim what a real father does. Protects. George Kirk taught Jim the most valuable lesson he could ever learn. There is no such thing as a no-win situation.

Sam used to say Jim had no clue about their dad. He used to tell Jim that dad would hate him. He’d tell Jim that his picture of dad was stupid.

Jim knew better. He knew Sam knew just as much, or rather just as little, as Jim did about their dad. He knew no matter what he did, Dad would never hate him. He knew his picture of his dad was probably wrong but I was all he had and that meant it was right.

George Kirk may be dead but he was alive in the Kirk household, almost oppressively alive.

Which is why when Uncle Frank pushed Sam into running away and Sam challenged Jim to show him how to be a Kirk, Jim knew exactly what to do.

He sacrificed. He knew if he made it out of the car alive Frank would probably kill him. 

He protected. He knew no matter what happened Sam running away would be at the bottom of things Frank was mad about and Sam would walk free.

He knew there was a win in his plan. No matter what happened to him, Sam would be safe.

Yeah, George Kirk taught Jim a lot. 

15 years after driving that car into the quarry Jim Kirk displayed his father’s lesson once again when he realigned a warp core. Only this time, Jim knew what the lessons meant.

_He was a lion_  
_We were our father's pride_  
_But I was defiant_  
_When he made me walk the line_  
_He knew how to lift me up_  
_And when to let me fall_  
_Looking back, he always had a plan_  
_My old man_

He was 22 years old laid out on a bar table with a bloody nose and what might just turn into a black eye, when he met his dad.

Christopher Pike was a hardass, make no mistake, but he looked at Jim with compassion and gave Jim something to reach for again. 

Chris was also an advisor at Starfleet Academy. He told Jim under no circumstances could he skip out on his advisee dinners and Jim begrudgingly went. It was eye opening to know that the only fool Chris had under his wing was Jim.

Chris’ wife welcomed Jim into the family and while Jim wasn’t sure he wanted that, he was none the less grateful for it. It was a small family, but a good one, maybe even a better one.

Chris Pike was the man who pushed Jim to succeed at the Academy. Chris Pike was the man who trusted him over Vulcan. Chris Pike was the man who vouched for Jim when Jim fucked up in a rather spectacular way. Chris Pike was the man lying dead on the floor. He was the man who believed in Jim when no one else would. He was the man who’d knock sense into Jim when no one else could.

He was the man Jim was going to avenge. Jim just wished he had some semblance of an actual plan to go on, which only made him more aware of Chris’ absence. Chris always had a plan.

_My old man_  
_Feel the callous on his hands_  
_And dusty overalls_  
_My old man_  
_Now I finally understand_  
_I have a lot to learn_  
_From my old man_

Jim had few memories of Grandpa Ty. He was a gruff man and generally had no patience for tears. 

When Jim pulled his car stunt, Grandpa Ty put his foot down. The Davis’ had their chance to raise Jim and Sam but now the Kirk’s would take the boys. Winona kept the farm under the condition that she handed it to her kids when they came of age and her brother Frank got the hell off it.

Tarsus IV offered Sam and Jim something they’d never really had. It offered them freedom and family.

Grandpa Ty was a hardworking man. He was one of the main crop framer on the colony and as such was a fairly important person. Jim often found it funny how many men in suits would come up to Grandpa Ty in his dirty overalls, trying to talk business in layman terms only to get run down by Grandpa Ty’s skills.

Grandpa Ty taught Jim survival skills, how to bluff, and the power of being underestimated. Jim put those lesson to good use on the colony after the massacre and even greater use when he got back to Earth.

Grandpa Ty was the closest Jim came to knowing George Kirk but it still wasn’t very close. 

_Now I'm a giant_  
_Got a son of my own_  
_He's always trying_  
_To go everywhere I go_  
_Do the best I can to raise him up the right way_  
_Hoping that he someday wants to be_  
_Like his old man_

Jim felt like the Earth fell out from under his feet when he returned from the five-year mission to find a five-year-old boy named David. Jim would admit he wasn’t impressed that Carol kept eh information from him. He’d also admit the kid scared the ever-loving hell out of him.

Carol let Jim keep David for the three-year break between missions. There was an awkwardness between the two for a good while, David having not known who his dad was and Jim not having known he had a kid. 

The awkwardness ended when David saw Jim running through the Enterprise’s coding to make sure no one was messing up his baby. David was fascinated watching the ones and zeros cross the screen.

Jim spent months teaching David coding and hacking before the kid’s attention was drawing away to the engines of the Enterprise. Jim then dived in and taught his son the finer parts of engineering followed by physics and tactics. Somehow navigation lead to languages and when Jim and David finally pulled themselves out of their learning frenzy three years was almost gone.

Jim took David to see the Enterprise before it relaunched for another five-year mission. Jim hoped his son wouldn't come to resent Jim for choosing this over him but when he saw the stars in David’s eyes he knew he son would someday understand the pull of the stars. Which reminded Jim, he needed to talk to his ma. When the tour was over Jim asked David if he wanted to Captain like his old man. David’s reply that he’d rather have Spock’s job made Jim laugh.

He had a few years left to hope his son would change his mind and follow his father’s footsteps.

_My old man_  
_I know one day we'll meet again_  
_As he's looking down_  
_My old man_  
_I hope he's proud of who I am_  
_I'm trying to fill the boot of my old man_

Jim was wrong, David’s interest in science stayed and Spock’s job was eventually exactly what he took. David did eventually end up in a Captain’s chair, though it was slightly against his will. Jim was glad he got to see it before he died. 

Jim knew he wasn’t doing too swift lately. He also knew his son would be out in the black when he died. He figured that was karma and couldn’t bring himself to be mad about it.

It was a few months after David shipped out that Leonard McCoy found James T. Kirk dead in his bed. He had passed peacefully in his sleep with a smirk on his face.

His funeral was a grand thing and David was rather glad he had an excuse not to join in the circus surrounding it. He grieved his own way, with a twenty-one-photon torpedo solute over the newly discovered, and newest Federation member, planet Skayla. The citizens where very happy to help David greave.

As for Jim, he got to see his Grandpa again. The man was just as ruff and callus as Jim remembered. He dragged Jim into a hug and ruffled his hair the way he used to do before things went to shit on Tarsus. 

He got to see Chris Pike again. “I’m proud of you son,” were the words that lead Jim to tears. He nearly didn’t let go of the man but a movement behind Chris distracted him.

George Kirk stood quietly off to the side, knowing he had the least amount of claim on his own son. Jim on the other hand, wasn’t having it. Jim smirked in his father’s direction, “Come give me a hug old man.”

_My old man_

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a break from this Spones fic that's killing me so I wrote this. It started out as just Pike but it clearly spiraled. Story of my life...oh well.


End file.
